Hello to this fic again people! CPM here. Well, after that little going into the house stuff, PS2 can only mean one thing right? THIS…IS…GAMING TIME!!! Anyways, I believe this is going to be fun for me (and hopefully for you too), as I have been waiting to write this chapter as well. What do I have in store for the computer you may ask? Well…you’ll have to wait and see. I have already teased you guys twice. Third’s the charm? Thou shalt see soon enough. I should also clarify, that while I said that I was going to do this as realistic as possible, there may be stuff that I will change (like the English writing thing, as I think it does for a nice plot possibility in the future) or put sometimes “Pinkie physics” (that is, put cartoon physics in the midst, but only with the MLP characters, of course, and due to the name, mainly with Pinkie Pie).That said I shall terminate the ado for this chapter. Here is the next chapter of MLP: Around the world, Gaming Interruptus, interlude nº1!
Ray William Johnson (yes I do watch him as well, have for a little time now) has approved of this message of I OWN NOTHING BUT THIS FIC!
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‘Hehehe…let the corruption with gaming…BEGIN!’ I shouted in my mind. Hopefully this will go as fun as I intend it to be.
“Now, Pinkie I think this is something you will enjoy a lot, if I were to say so myself” I said, directing my attention to her. The moment I finished saying the words, she immediately turned her attention to me. “Why do I say this you may think? Well with this little box, that is called a “Playstation 2”, you can, as the name implies, play games with this” I explained. The illumination on Pinkie’s face was such, that I think Celestia herself would have had a hard time keeping up with such non-literal light.
“OHHHHHHHHH! How does that work?! If can learn another way to have fun, then I will learn it for sure!” She almost screamed. At this point, Twilight interjected.
“But how we can play with this? It’s too small to use and even if we did use it, I think we would break it” She questioned. Twilight dear, weren’t you taught at school to wait for your teachers to finish? …Oh dear, I’m turning into a real professor now…that is bad…I want to be scientist, not a teacher. I do NOT have the “social” patience for it.
“Well…you don’t use it directly. Instead if you put in something that is called a “CD”, which in this case are the games, the machine will recognize it and with the help of the television, make images that you can actively control with the help of this little artifacts called “joysticks”, that send the orders into the images to do what we want” I explained. I think that everybody was in awe. AGAIN. Even then, I should continue before one of them wakes up from the stupor and asks me what I am about to explain.
“Let me show you how it works” I said. Then I opened up the PS2 and took out the game that was in it. One of my personal favorites, “Burnout 3 Takedown” (HELL TO THE YES!). “This is a CD, and in this side it shows you the game that it is. The other side” I continued by turning the CD the other way. “Is where all the data is collected and that the machine analyzes to make the game appear. Any questions?” I asked to the rest. The looks on their faces hadn’t apparently recovered from their “Ohhhhhh” status. Therefore I did what humanity has taught us to use in case we need to grab attention. I snapped my fingers in front of them. This in turn made them do what we all do. That is, blink eyes and shake heads.
After said reaction, someone was finally able to say something. Surprisingly, said one was none other Pinkie Pie.
“Ohhhhhhh. Can you show us how the game is?” She asked with all the wonder and curiosity in both Earth AND Equestria. In other words, I don’t care who you are, you WERE going to show her.
“I was just about to. I think you will enjoy this game Pinkie. You too Dash. After all this is the sort of game that…” I kept on rambling. The reason I did this was so I could secretly turn on the TV, and quickly change it to “Video” mode. I was already lucky they didn’t see anything bad for them, and I’m not about to press my luck any further. Surprisingly, this time the show “En Camara Lenta” (Time Warp in English. Don’t be confused though. That’s how the show is called. The literal translation is “in slow motion”) was on show before I pressed the button to go into “Video” mode. Apparently, someone out there doesn’t want these guys to have their minds turned into sludge as well. Awesome.
By the time I finished talking, I had already put everything into motion. All that was left was to turn on the PS2…and let the wonder begin.
“Ok, everything is ready. All I have to do is turn on the Playstation 2, also shortened as PS2, and the game will start. Are you ready?” I asked, excitement running in my veins and voice. To this I got a general nod, and with the answer I wanted, pressed the “Power” button.
With it came the ever known picture of the cubes and lights in the TV, signifying the start of a PS2 game. While the scene went on, the rest went with their awe faces again, and with that reaction, I kept on talking.
“So…this is a game called “Burnout 3 Takedown”. The first part you saw was something of a “mark” that each of this games has to indicate that they are from the company that created them” I went on explaining, though I think the attention level on me was not exactly high at the moment. “That is, each game has a company that created them, but all of THESE type of games are for the same machine which is called a “console” I continued. Then I saw that the company credits were almost finishing, and then I had an idea of warning them. “Oh, before I forget I should give you one little piece of advice” I said, a bit of mischief in my voice. After that everybody just looked at me. And so with all the joy I said. “Brace yourselves”.
(Enjoy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdB65T2eWjg&feature=related
After the small presentation, there was a short silence. This same silence was broken by three VERY loud voices.
“THAT…WAS…AWESOME!!!” The sources of the voices? Pinkie Pie, Spike and Rainbow Dash. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“By the stars…that was amazing!” Applejack commented. She seemed to be in a state of absolute disbelief. And I really couldn’t blame her at all.
“How…how do they do that…? How do YOU do that?” This time the reply of awe came from Twilight. And believe me, I think only Pinkie’s “Pinkie Sense” had her in such a state of wonder. Only without the “going to the end of the world to see how it works and getting hit in the process” thing.
“I must admit it is rather…interesting” Princess Celestia said. She seemed to be TRYING to decipher what sorcery this was. ‘Keep trying Celly’. It’s good for your mind heh heh’
“How in Equestria is it possible to generate such images? What do you have that we don’t?” Princess Luna asked, once again the word TRYING in capital letters in the understanding of the world that is…gaming.
“Eeeeeeeeeep!” Fluttershy was currently trying to hide between something. ‘(Sigh) Oh Fluttershy, you’re awesome and cute, but you sometimes need to be a little bit more…less shy/less timid/assertive. Whatever you can achieve first’. (Then again we know that is as possible as Twilight not studying something in one day, or holding a book. AKA impossible XD).
“While it is impressive…I do not believe I can indulge in something so…explosive” Rarity commented. Well I’m not surprised she said that. This is Rarity we are talking about anyway. ‘But don’t worry my dear. I have something for you’
After each said whatever thoughts they had, I proceeded to explain for those intrigued.
“As you can see, the images generated by this machine can be VERY impressive” I told them, a bit of pride in my voice. “Anyways, like I said before, we can use this “joystick” I said grabbing my black joystick from the table. “To control the game, choose the different options, and play it” I finished. Then before I could do anything else, Pinkie went right beside me, in one second, millimeters away from me, and it scaring the hell out of me. (In case you are wondering, since I’m from Argentina, I’ll use the decimal metric system. However, when I feel like it is necessary, I will put the conversion to the imperial metric system if you’d like).
“How do you play the game?!” She yelled at me…when she was right by my ear. In other words, screw a freaking rocket, because Pinkie yelling can do MUCH more damage to your ears.
“Ooookay. First, OWWWWWW!!! Second, Pinkie you DON’T have to yell at my poor ear. Third, I was just about to show you. And forth…don’t yell at my ear again please” I begged her. At this she pouted a little, but then backed away until she was in a comfortable distance for me. I love that pony, but she at least needs to learn just a tad about personal space. But I know, deep in my heart, that is NOT going to happen. ‘Besides’ I thought. ‘Now that I think about it, I’m living the dream of many people sooooooooo…bring in the closeness, I say’
“Well as I was going to say, let me show you how this works. If I press certain buttons, then I will be able to start the game. For example I’ll do this. I will press this arrow like button that is pointing down to go well…down in the menu and when I reach this option that in English means “Simple Event” I will press this button that looks like a cross” I showed them, pressing each buttons when mentioned them.
“Then I will do whatever this game asks me to choose an-“”Ohhh so the game can ask you?” Said interruption was by Pinkie Pie, who I’ve forgotten to remember that she can take things way too literally sometimes. Henceforth, cue the facepalm. OUCH! That being done I continued not without a correction first.
“No Pinkie it was just a way to say how to do what is written on the screen…(Sigh) anyway…After I selected all in these two menus, I will have to go and select my means of playing the game in this case, cars” I kept on explaining, showing them the good selection of cars. It was at this moment that once again, Twilight interrupted in the name of knowledge.
“What are these…”cars”?" She questioned me. I expected this question from beforehand, and therefore already knew what to say.
“Well the “cars” are one of our ways of transporting” I started. “They are made of metal, and with a lot of other elements that allow us to move in a rather faster way than walking. Imagine the carriages in Equestria, only instead of being transported by other beings, we use mechanisms to move them ourselves. Also we can use them to carry from 2 to 8 or more people and even carry other stuff depending on the size of the car” I continued. If there was one thing I was a fan of, even if I didn’t know much about them, was cars.
“I see. So what are you supposed to do with this…”cars” Twilight asked me back.
“Well…there are two things to do with them in this game. One is…”I gave a little pause and braced myself because I knew just what was about to happen. ”Racing” I finished. The moment I said the word, Rainbow came flying to me in just a second. Even if I did expect the reaction, it was still pretty startling.
“You guys race too! AWESOME! Let me play too!” She was screaming at me with all her might. It wasn’t Pinkie level but it still hurt. I think I may need to have some earplugs in handy next time.
“Rainbow, wait a minute! I will let you play, but first, let me finish explaining, then let me show you how to play, and THEN I will let you play…okay?” I asked with hope. Luckily, she pouted, said a simple “Fine” and then receded to her previous position next to Pinkie Pie. ‘Phew…I got the energetic and the racing ponies out of my thinking process, so I can at least explain properly for now…then I’ll let those two play, and when I add Applejack and Spike, all hell will break loose…in the good sense at least. Heh…heh…heh’ I planned, like a villain trying to find a way to get rid of the good guys, only instead of an evil plan, this was a fun plan.
“Where was I? Oh yeah, anyways, aside from racing there is an extra mode that I will show you later but for now, let’s select this car and in we go” I proclaimed, selecting the Modified Super (go look it up) and pressed X. After waiting in the loading screen, I said the next words.
“Now, first look what the game is about and then I will teach you and let you play, okay?” I told them. When I received the general nod, I proceeded to say, or rather yell, the words I still wonder to this day why I never said while playing this game. “In that case…LET…US…CRASH!”
While I got the obvious “The fuck is this saying?” and “Is this guy insane?” and my personal favorite “YEAH!” faces and reactions, it was well worth it. Then the screen came into view…and the carnage and racing began.
The mode I was in was Race in the Waterfront Southbound track. I had some practice with the game not too long ago, therefore, I knew the track and could blow those cars into oblivion whenever they came close. I still crashed a bit, but I managed to win the 3 lapped race with no complications in the midst.
When I finished the faces on the ponies and dragon were as following. Spike, Pinkie and Rainbow had a “NICEEEE!” face. Twilight, Luna and Applejack were still with their faces of “WOWWWWW!”. Celestia was curiously in a face of “Interesting” a la Dr. House mixed with a “Amazing!” face. Fluttershy was just about recovering from her hiding state into a “Is the coast clear?” face. And Rarity had the most complex face, with a combination of the “How in Equestria?” face, the “Is this what humans can think?” face and the “How crude!” face. Needless to say, I need to get a life if I was able to analyze the faces like this. (Sigh).
Before I could say or think anything else, Rainbow shouted the same way I did when I saw an awesome game and wanted it for myself.
“LEMME PLAY!” Was her shout. This was followed by an immediate yell from Pinkie saying “I want to play too!” with an incoming scream from Spike telling “Hey! Don’t forget me!” and an admitting statement from Applejack saying “Ah don’t know how in the name of Celestia all that is happening, but it sure looks like fun. An’ I want in”
“Okay, okay just wait a minute you four” I said trying to calm the surrounding “sharks”. “First of all, only two can play at the same time, and second, you have hooves. I don’t think you can handle all the buttons on your own. Only Spike can handle them because of his claws” I explained to them. This in turn made them look at each other. ‘Uh oh, if I know the looks on those faces, then this that a battle is approaching’ I thought in recognition. Sure enough, a battle ensued. Only it was between two ponies instead of three and a dragon.
“Hey, this is about racing so I should be the first to play!” “But you race all the time. And you heard him, only I can play it like he does” This was how the “conversation” went between Rainbow and Spike, with Pinkie and Applejack watching in the outside. When I saw the collected scene, I decided to take course of action.
“HOOOOOOOLD IT!” I yelled. At this everybody turned their heads to me. Well I at least got their attention. I’m lucky I have enough trust to do this, otherwise, I would have been trampled and/or bucked by Applejack by now.
“I’m sorry for screaming, but I think we need to settle this like normal human, or in this case, pony beings” I started. “That is, talking. Pinkie, Applejack, if you don’t mind, would you let Rainbow and Spike play first? And what about the rest of you? Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, would you like to play as well?” I asked in general. To this I got responses from everyone I asked.
“Sure. Ah don’t mind. I know Rainbow here is a bit too impatient. Ah can wait for a little while” Applejack told me.
“Okie-dokie-lokie. I can wait if Spike can play too” Pinkie cheered.
“Well I think I could try. But if it is only to help then that would be best to me” Twilight said.
“I agree with Twilight Sparkle. As much as I have curiosity to test this…game, I would prefer to be of assistance rather than directly participate” Princess Luna said.
“I-I-I think I-I’ll pass. I-I don’t think it i-is my k-k-kind of game” Fluttershy whispered, still a bit scared from the intro of the game.
“I will go with Fluttershy. I do believe that this sort of game is too…crude for me to enjoy” Rarity told me.
“While I appreciate the offer, I think I will go in the position of a watcher if you do not mind” Celestia said. Well, as much as I wanted her to play a little, I didn’t mind. This was Princess Celestia after all. I do wonder what is it that she enjoys in the fun department. “Oh don’t worry Princess. It’s all right. After all, it is your choice” I told her. With this she thanked me, and bowed her head. This is one of the things that can mess up your mind. A princess of a parallel world bowing to you. It was flattering, but a bit unnerving.
“Please Princess Celestia, do not bow your head. The fact that someone like you is bowing her head to me is flattering but a bit unnerving” I admitted to her. To this she seemed surprised a little, but nodded nonetheless, not without saying a short apology.
“Anyway. With all I needed to know, I think I know how we can do this” I told them, the plan forming in my mind. “Spike and Rainbow will play now, then Pinkie and Applejack and the winner of those two will race one more, as if it were a tournament. Twilight, Princess Luna, since Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack will need help with handling the joysticks, assist them when you can. I will soon explain how. Everybody okay with this?” I asked them while organizing the whole thing. Everybody looked at me for a few seconds then nodded, though I think I MAY have impressed Twilight a bit with the organizing I just did. Thing is, I wonder why since she is the queen of organizing. ‘Girl, you organized stuff I in my life would have never been able to do myself. Do not go in wonder over the skills of this humble host’ I pondered.
“Well, with that said, Spike, grab this joystick. Rainbow, take this one” I told them, grabbing the controllers and holding them out for them. As I expected, Rainbow had a lot of difficulty with grabbing her own controller. “Um, Rainbow you may want to go up the bed, place the controller there, and play from there. Otherwise, I think even you would have difficulty. Spike, sit here if you’d like” I said pointing Rainbow to go to my bed, while pointing Spike to a little chair I had beside the bed.
“Um, thanks” Spike said.
“Yeah, thanks” Rainbow said. Okay, having both of them thank me at almost the same time was almost scary.
“No problem. Now before you can start, let me do a couple things” I said. With that I grabbed Spike’s controller for a second and picked the “Race” option once again and put the Winter City Northbound track. “Okay now you can select the cars. Spike you are player number one. Rainbow, you are player number two, okay?” I explained to them. The moment I said two and Rainbow in the same phrase, said pony almost snapped.
“Hey! How come I’m number two?! I’m the fastest flyer in all of Ponyville!” She complained. I couldn’t help but sigh, along with Spike who seemed to share my feelings as he also faceclawed.
“Rainbow…you are called number two in this game okay. Imagine a race from Cloudsdale, where for example, Fleetfoot is number one and Spitfire is number two. You know who is going to win and it doesn’t have written the number one on her. And yes I do know about the Wonderbolts and Cloudsdale. Like I said I will explain later, okay?” I quickly added before she could ask. With a few blinks of her eyes and some shakes from her head, she recovered and nodded.
“Now, please choose your car. If anything I can let you choose anything from the set of series of cars, so don’t worry. One thing though, Rainbow you will have to choose from whatever series Spike chose. Otherwise, it will be unfair, okay?” I told them. I received a nod from the two, but Spike did say something after that.
“What is the faster “series” of these cars” He asked. At this I just simply smiled.
“Press the arrow that is pointing right four times and you’ll get to it” I explained. He managed to that and found the “Super” series.
“Well these look like they can go fast. Hmmmm…I’m taking the one you took before” He decided, choosing the “Modified Super”.
“Okay, press the button that has a cross. Rainbow, your turn now. Do the same thing Spike did and choose any car you want from there” I declared. With that she did the same thing, only she had more trouble due to her not having finger like members in her hooves.
“Okay, I’m here. Hmmmm…Oh I’m taking this one. The flames and the thing look really cool” Rainbow said, choosing the “Dominator Super” (once again, look it up).
“Very well then. Twilight, come over here, if you would please” I asked her. She looked a bit weirded out, but came close nonetheless. “Now you’re going to help Rainbow press these two buttons, since Rainbow can barely press the arrow buttons and the figure buttons, okay?” I told her, pointing to the L1 and R1 buttons. To this she nodded, and with that I started with the how to play.
“With that done, I’ll tell you how to play this game. Now the button that has a cross will make the car accelerate, and the one with a square will make it brake. The arrows pointing left and right will make the car go that way. And as for the buttons that Twilight will press, those are for looking back with the car, that is with the left button you will look at a camera that will look behind the car, and for making the car get a boost, that is with the right button you will get a boost of speed for the car. Think of it as beating your wings harder to go faster. Did you all understand?” I finished explaining. Surprisingly, I got a nod from everyone. ‘Good, I don’t have to repeat myself. That is just excellent’ I thought with relief.
“As for the rules, you can crash into the other car, and make it crash into something. That is, everything goes in this race between the cars” I explained, a bit of mischief in the last part. “You will also be competing against four other opponents. Also the race will have a total of three laps. Another thing, Spike you are in the upper part of the screen, and Rainbow you are in the lower part of the screen. In both of your screens in the lower part, you will see a bar that will slowly fill up. That is the boost bar that will tell you how much of the boost you have. You can increase it by doing certain stuff in the race, you’ll realize what, and can double it by doing a takedown, which is when you crash a car and make it unusable, meaning taking it out. This double will decrease if you crash yourself, or get taken out. One more thing. Even if you or your opponent crash, the car will be good as new in no time, so don’t worry about that. Once again, everything understood?” I finished explaining once more, panting a little because of talking so much. I got a general nod again, but I think it may have been also because of impatience. Though I don’t blame them. I too would be after all that.
“In that case the race is about to start. May the best win!” I declared. After this, Spike and Rainbow looked at each other, looks of determination in their faces.
“You’re going to lose Spike. If it is about races, nopony can beat me!” Rainbow boasted.
“Maybe in Equestria Rainbow, but this is another world. Which is why I can easily win this!” Spike retorted. ‘These two look as if they were archrivals or something like that’ I compared in my mind.
With those two phrases, the race began.
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Well, that is that. I know, that the gaming works are technically explanations, but those are different and much more fun to do. Anyway, right now I will ask you to do something for me. Wanna guess? I want you to tell me who would you like to see win in the Rainbow vs Spike and Pinkie vs Applejack races. That’s right. You choose the result out of those two, and for the final race too. So tell me what you think. With that said I’ll see you again soon. I will wait until late in the night tomorrow and see the results of this. Do not forget the catchphrase as well. Comment, R&R, let your inner Grammar Nazi out, haters ignored, flamers abhorred, etc, etc. CPM out.
EDIT: Wait is over guys. Today is the update. CPM out.